Summer Campaign Logic for Business Owners

There are two schools of thought on running direct mail campaigns during the summer:

1. Don’t do it; people are away - and, that is correct

2. Absolutely do it; there is less noise in mailboxes and you don’t want brand to be invisible for 3 months of the year - and, that is also correct

No right answer here, but there is a business logic to consider. Because people vacation, are more relaxed, and are enjoying a quieter time in many businesses, they may not read every ad in every publication, ie, there are fewer brands before them.  As a result:

• a well designed direct mail piece [print or electronic]
• sent with the right message
• to a wisely selected demographic stands an excellent chance of both increased attention and immediate response. There is simply less competition.

And, the most compelling reason to institute summer campaigns is brand stewardship. While small businesses most critically require year round, sustained, brand awareness to survive, all businesses require strong, continuous brand stewardship to thrive. So, while a  new start up business may not want to spent all of its capital on a summer campaign its first year, it will still want to plan for initial brand awareness and join its established peers in a full year strategy in short order.

Small Caps in InDesign

Have you experienced trouble with small caps in InDesign? Complaints are circulating regarding type, especially small caps, either not showing up or printing as gibberish. According to the InDesign article, when an OpenType typeface with the special Small Caps glyphs are selected, and Small Caps is enabled from the Control panel, instead of InDesign simply scaling down those characters, as would be done for Type 1 or TrueType typefaces, InDesign replaces the characters with small cap variants of the OpenType typeface.

While not everyone experiences problems with the small caps, the issue can be extremely frustrating for those who do. It appears that the issue lies solely in the variant glyphs in the OpenType typeface. The printing issues themselves could be solved by simply buying a better quality office printer or choosing a commercial printer with more compatible equipment, but if neither of those options are available, here are some suggestions: 

a) use a Type 1 or TrueType typeface,

b) turn off Small Caps and scale the characters down by hand

c) convert the Small Caps glyphs to outlines.

To read the article by indesignsecrets.com click here.

Indulge your Inner-Designer with Digital Printing

Not long ago, artists had to turn away dreams of turning their creations into luscious short-run book project. The wait is over!

Companies like Neenah Paper, Sappi and Cougar Digital provide high-quality, cost-efficient digital printing solutions that will help you rediscover your artistic ambitions.

Some advantages to digital printing include:

1. Great color and print quality,
2. High speed presses, which results in a quick turnaround time.
3. Significant cost savings
4. Short runs without the high price tag
5. The same exceptional design options you have in offset.

BCP’s digital technology sends targeted jobs to market quickly. Here are a few of the ways BCP’s quality control helps our customers achieve all of the benefits of digital printing:

1. At BCP, we use advanced digital processes to ensure high quality on digital print materials.
2. We can establish an online ordering and fulfillment site for you at our online storefront; password protected and available 24 hours per day.
3. After receiving your digital files, we check and prepare them for the digital press, send you proofs, and finalize the job.
4. We also offer digital photography services; our in-house studio provides color-corrected images and we can provide photo shoot capabilities.
5. With digital printing, we offer short run postcards, product sheets, annual reports, and invitations with 4-color reproduction quality every time.

Match your digital paper with the perfect bind and watch your concept grow into a beautiful project.

How to Print the Mailing Pieces Your Company Needs, Affordably

Baltimore Color Plate: Own the Budget, Win the Mailing Campaign

BCP KNOWS how to keep your mailing campaigns economical.

At Baltimore Color Plate, printing several campaign pieces in one run not only saves time, it also saves money. This allows printers to order larger quantities of paper at once in order to receive a lower cost per sheet. Printers may also be able to consolidate various jobs to single large sheets to maximize efficiency and reduce paper waste. The combination of the designer’s work, prudent paper selection and efficient printing routines will provide your next successful mailing campaign!

To get maximum postal discounts there are a few things to keep in mind. First is Aspect Ratio. The Aspect Ratio of a mail piece must be 1.3 to 2.5.  To determine this you can divide the length by the height of your mailer. For example: For a mailer measuring 8” x 5”,  divide 8” by 5” to get an aspect ratio of 1.6. This falls between the 1.3 and 2.5 ratio. No additional postal fees will be applied.

The second thing to consider for maximum postal discounts is your final size. The USPS has a MAXIMUM and MINIMUM size your mailer can be to mail. For a basic Letter/Card mailing the minimum size is 5” x 3.5” and the maximum is 11.5” x 6.125.” Anything beyond these measurements or out of aspect ratio will incur additional mailing fees.

In our previous blog post about the green initiative, we mentioned Neenah Paper, Sappi, and Cougar. These three paper companies offer an extensive selection of affordable and budget conscious paper options. We will be happy to recommend the right product for your project and budget.

Image provided by Neenah Paper

IT'S EASY TO BE GREEN: Simple Steps Toward Green Efficiency

There are things we should do and there are things we NEED to do.

At Baltimore Color Plate, we believe that efficient and easy, long-term green products are essential in order to preserve and maintain our clean and pristine environment.

One of the ways BCP supports the green initiative is through our available selections of environmentally-friendly green paper companies. Paper suppliers have a tremendous impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Paper companies like Neenah Paper, Sappi and Cougar^® have made it even easier to support environmental sustainability and waste reduction through their eco-friendly, competitively priced, comparable-quality paper.

Neenah paper provides a lot of options for choosing an environmentally responsible paper. You can view their top environmental picks by selecting “Environmental Choices” from the “Shop Neenah” drop down menu at http://www.neenahpaper.com/. You can also use their Environmental Calculator [http://www.neenahpaper.com/Resources/Calculators/EcoCalculator] to see how green your paper choice is.

Cougar^® and Sappi also offer lines of environmental papers.  Cougar^® offers its Domtar EarthChoice® family of products, which is endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance. Visit http://www.domtar.com/en/paper-products/cougar.asp to view all the attributes of this paper line. Another great option is Sappi’s Opus line, which is FSC and SFI Chain of Custody certified. http://www.na.sappi.com/products/opus

In America, 57.4% of all paper consumed was recovered for recycling. By 2012, the goal is to raise recovery by 60%. Each percentage point is equivalent to one million tons of paper. Will you join the initiative?

Image provided by Neenah Paper